# Nail consistently splits in same place as it grows



## coloringbook

Help! About 6 mo-1 yr ago my middle nail on my left hand started splitting on the side. One half of it will grow out fine but the other half just won't grow past the skin (or past the little white tip.) I end up having to trim and file the whole nail because it will split vertically in the exact same spot every time and start snagging on things. Underneath it I can see a little speck that looks like dirt but if I pick at it it won't come up and seems like it may be another layer of finger nail if that's possible. Because when I pick at it it increases the split.

All my other nails look great. They aren't perfect, some will peel a bit but for the most part they are long and I have no other issues with them. It's just this one pesky nail. That nail also seems a lot thinner than the rest.

This is really gross but it might have something to do with it.... Ever since I was super young until I was 15 I bit my nails and cuticles up bad. Eventually... I had ruined my cuticles and apparently created tiny warts around them from getting bacteria in there (disgusting I know...) so I had to have a series of removals, getting them frozen off. I know this had an effect on my fingers and slightly changed the shape of the sides of some of my nails.

One other thing that may be relevant... I can remember having a little red mark on that same finger (before the split started happening) that looked like a blood blister about a year or 2 ago. I got annoyed by it and scraped under my nail and got the dried blood out but you can still see a faint pink/purple spot near the tip of my nail.

I asked the doc a few months ago about it and she was absolutely useless on the matter. Just told me to "maybe put more nail polish on it" which can temporarily hide the problem but definitely won't solve it. I used nail hardeners and strengtheners for months without any progress. I take multi-vitamins and try to moisturize my hands as much as possible and I don't use harsh nail polish remover a lot. I NEVER bite my nails anymore.

Anyway I'm stumped and I really hope there is an answer out there for my poor pathetic nail lol. I really don't want to resort to having one measly acrylic haha.

Thanks so much!!!


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## Karren

Not fun!! I had the same thing that wouldn't go away on my thumb for a year. Mainly because I use my Blackberry a lot... And I ended up using a nail hardener/strengthen polish on it and it took a while but the crack finally went away. I've always had crappy nails a little but my new Dr diagnosed me with low vitamin D and started me on a prescription supplement and after 6 months my nails a strong and never split without using polish or hardener.. I also got one of those home acrylic nail kits and made the cracked nail look just like the other nails.. Only thicker. And the home acrylic kit wasn't messy at all.. Pretty easy..


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## magosienne

You can take food supplements for hair&amp;nail growth, that helps. You can definitely use nail straighteners. I'd recommend you use some castor oil on your nails, it's really great.


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